First off, unlike the previous two PCPs, which were cylindrical, this one would be spherical. To achieve that, we start with a blank map with the outlines of the continents on it (e.g. http://ladympire.com/wiki/images/b/b7/PCP3_Huge.png). The map would is 5000 x 2500 pixels, with one equatorial pixel being ~5 mi (~8 km). We achieve sphericality via an overlay on Google Earth. This makes it quite easy to see the true shape of the world we will build. Changes made to the base map would be updated in the overlay properties, so as not to move the overlay once it's in place. Also, any cities or places on interest added as placemarks within Google Earth instead of being directly placed on the map. All these things can be shared via the exportation of .KMZ files.

Now, to the actual game. We start out with a blank continental map (see above). This removes the player from trying to figure out hoe the heck to make the map look right on a sphere using a equirectangular projection. Before we actually start playing I would assign regions of the map to have organisms from a specific continent. This makes it show whever people end up, we'll know basically what organisms live in the region and we can easily keep it consistent. For example, on the above map, the bigger continent on the left could be Afro-Eurasian organisms (in roughly the same orientation), the smaller continent South of it could be Oceanian organisms (including Australia), the continents on the right could be North and South American organisms (probably with the small isthmus at the equator bring the rough boundary line), and the poles could be their respective Arctic and Antarctic organisms. The by product of this approach is that humans would have evolved on the South-Western portion of the large continent on the left, and spread out from there.

Now, the game would be played in a series of "snapshots." Each snap shot is basically a glimpse of the world during a given period. The first snap shot is the one where we fill in the biomes and topography. The second snapshot could possibly be dealing with the migration of prehistoric peoples to fill out where people have migrated and what races are where. The third snapshot could be the startings of civilization, etc. How much time passes on each snap shot is up for debate, but basically each snapshot shows the world during the era we choose for it to be.

The players would be given a certain number of points each snapshot and would purchase the area they wish to work in that round. Areas would be determined before the round started and would be different every round. Players would have to purchase land from scratch every round. This is done to allow people to come and go from playing as they choose, so the game never gets bogged down waiting for people to play.

The map reminds me of a fractal type of map from Civ, which is neat. But I feel like there's going to be a lot of water, even once the map is overlayed on the sphere and continents take a more natural shape. Could we maybe have one or two larger bits of land that aren't as narrow? Maybe fatten a few sections of existing land a bit.

There should be a button called "Add Image Overlay." Click that. A menu will pop up. Click the "Browse..." button and select the map you want to use. You'll see the map but it won't take up the whole globe. Use the green lines on the edges to resize it to take up the whole globe. Be careful when dragging it up to the poles, it's very finicky about that. Then, instead of making a new overlay to make another globe, just copy the current one so you only have to set it up once. If you ever want to edit a current one, just right click it on the left and select "Properties."